


Three Nights

by cafe80s



Category: Milo Murphy's Law
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1970s, Cavendish isn’t stubborn af as usual, Dakavendish - Freeform, M/M, Song: Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, concert pianist timeline, no time travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:55:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25439566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cafe80s/pseuds/cafe80s
Summary: It's the 1970's: Vinnie works at a theatre and Balthazar is a concert pianist. It only took three nights.
Relationships: Balthazar Cavendish/Vinnie Dakota
Comments: 9
Kudos: 32





	Three Nights

“Wha- is someone playing in the lobby?” 

Vinnie ventured down the corridor and saw a tall man with ginger hair playing behind the grand piano. 

“That’s gorgeous.” Vinnie said, gazing at the man, unsure if he was complimenting his music or the man himself.

Balth looked up at Vinnie. “Oh! I’m sorry.” He adjusted his glasses on his nose. “Apologies if I’m not supposed to be here.”

“Oh, nah, don’t worry about it. I thought it was really good!” Vinnie said, holding his clipboard to his chest. “Are you playing here tonight?”

“Yes, I am. I came early and saw the piano and couldn’t help myself, really.” Balthazar rubbed one of the keys gently. 

“Keep goin’,” Vinnie encouraged as he walked around the piano to Balth’s side. 

The pianist cleared his throat and continued. It had taken Vinnie a while to realise that this was a song his own grandmother used to play for him as a child. _I thought I recognised it._

In his grandparents’ cottage, he would dance around and babble along to the music, trying to sing what he thought he heard. It brought back memories of sticky date pudding, embroidery, and his grandmother’s warm hugs. 

The memories and music were suddenly interrupted by the PA system. _“Balthazar Cavendish, please report to the front desk. Sound check begins soon.”_

Balth sighed. “I have to go. I hope you enjoyed it,” he said, standing up from the stool and bowing slightly to Vinnie.

Vinnie gazed at the man. “I really did. Thanks.” He waited at the piano while Balthazar left, watching this oddly charming man walk away. He smiled shyly to himself and went back up the corridor.

__________________

“Vinnie!”

The man in question tensed up when he heard his boss’s raspy voice. “Yes, Mr Block?”

“Have you met all our guests for this evening? You need to sort them into their dressing rooms backstage before their performances. Like always.”

“I think I’ve met one of them so far. He was playin’ piano out in the-“

“Yeah, whatever. Just get on with it.”

“Yes, sir.” Vinnie clutched his clipboard and walked through the hallways to get backstage where all of the performers were.

“Hey guys, I’m Vinnie Dakota. I’m gonna be lookin’ after you guys tonight!” He smiled at the group, especially at Balthazar. “You each have your own dressing rooms which I’m assuming you’ve all got your stuff in?”

Some shook their heads. 

“All right, no problem. I’ll get someone to help with all that,” he said, looking down the hallway and seeing a large pile of bags and instruments against the wall. “Any questions?”

The group was quiet but polite. 

“Good to see. Right, I’ll be back in a tick.”

Vinnie darted down the hall to find an assistant to help the performers shift their things. He went back down to Balthazar to see if he needed anything moved.

“Oh, no. I only have my little bag with me. It’s quite hard to make a grand piano portable, you see.”

Vinnie laughed harder than he needed to but with the quip coming from the guy he was somehow already attracted to, he couldn’t help it. 

“So uh, you’re sorted then?”

“I should be, yes. Thank you.”

“Hey, it’s my job,” Vinnie said with a smile. “Don’t worry about it.” 

Balthazar gave him a soft smile back.

________________

The night started off fantastically; each act was on time and there were no technical difficulties. This was the perfect night for Balthazar to be performing. 

Vinnie knocked on the door of Balth’s dressing room and entered when he heard the taller man’s voice ring through with a “come in!”

“Hey, how’s it goin’?”

“Quite good. Just practicing my music on this little keyboard here.”

“Nice suit.”

“Oh, thank you.” Balthazar had donned a pistachio-green three piece suit, along with a top hat and coattails. It suited him so well, especially with his ginger hair and his general personality.

“Do all pianists wear top hats or is it just you?”

Balth chuckled and felt his ears turn red. “I am sure it’s a popular thing amongst most pianists, yes. Well, at least the ones from the 17th and 18th centuries.”

This time Vinnie chuckled. “Well, it certainly looks dashing.” He glanced at the clock. “Shoot, you’re on in 5. Make sure you’re in the wings at least a minute beforehand.” He grinned at Balth and left the room swiftly, closing the door behind him.

He pressed himself against the wall beside the door, sighing, and letting some steam off. Interacting with the pianist made him flustered and flirty; definitely not how he was supposed to act in his own workplace. However, he straightened up his orange suit and kept doing his job.

______________

Balthazar zoomed to the wings once he realised what the time was. 

“There’s an intermission after your one so we can chill if you like?”

Balth looked around to see Vinnie smiling up at him. “Oh! Um, yes, that would be nice. But aren’t you still supposed to be doing your job?”

“Obviously, but we’ve got like ten minutes to hang out,” Vinnie said, his ears going red underneath his curls. 

Both Vinnie and Balthazar watched the emcee on the stage as he closed off the last act and announced the next one. A grand piano had been moved to the centre of the stage for Balth to play.

“And now, please welcome Balthazar Cavendish to the stage! Tonight he will be playing us three pieces!” He extended his arm toward their side of the stage, gesturing for the pianist to enter.

The audience applauded politely as Vinnie whispered “good luck!” to Balth just before he stepped out of the wings onto the stage.

He waved to the audience and sat at the piano, putting up his music sheets and holding his hands above the keys.

It was the same song he had played in the lobby. Vinnie still couldn’t remember the name of it, but he was able to listen to the entire song this time and refresh his memories of his grandmother and her cottage.

It had a soft ending, and Vinnie found himself clapping excessively before Balth started playing his next piece. It was a slow and steady piece, nothing that Vinnie had ever heard of, surprisingly. His years working at the theatre had made him quite knowledgeable with music pieces, especially ballet and concert band music. It didn’t really come in handy anywhere, but it meant he could hum along to some performers while doing his job.

The audience applauded once more, snapping Vinnie out of his thoughts. Balthazar began playing his final piece, which was a bouncy ragtime piece. Vinnie knew this was a song he’d heard on the radio. It was one of his favourites. He hummed along to the tune as he endearingly watched Balthazar play. 

As he played the last few notes, Balth’s smile grew. He waited for the audience’s cheers to stand, bow to them, and wave as he left the stage without a word.

He came back into the wings where Vinnie grinned at him. 

“I loved it.”

“Thank you.”

A voice spoke from the stage. “Now we have a fifteen minute intermission. Drinks and snacks will be sold in the lobby. Thank you.”

“What kind of refreshments are there?”

“Trust me, there’s food backstage we can have. Come on!”

____________________

“You were fraternising with a performer? That’s against your contract!”

Vinnie looked confused. “Excuse me?”

“My assistant Gretchen told me she saw you having the intermission with one of the performers from tonight. Is it true?”

“It is.” Vinnie cowered. Mr Block was always mean towards him, but this time he had earned it. It really was his own fault. “I’m sorry, Mr Block. I can assure you I won’t do it again. Seriously.”

“This is only your first warning, so you won’t be fired yet. But if I see any behaviour similar to that, you’ll be out of a job, alright? Consider this strike one!”

“Yes, Mr Block.”

Mr Block sat down at his desk. “Now get outta my office.”

“Yes, sir,” Vinnie said quietly, kicking himself for trying to flirt with Balthazar. He meant it. But he didn’t mean for it to affect his job. 

_I really do like it here. Mr Block is just a homophobe. I’ve never even told him. I think he just gets a vibe from me._

Vinnie left the theatre by himself that night, walking to his car and having a cigarette. He hardly smoked, but if he felt this bad then he’d have one or two at a time. He drove home with the radio on minimum volume. The damp streets reflected the traffic lights with a shine. The night sky was clear for once.

__________________

As he clocked in the next day, he took his clipboard and skimmed over the performers for the night as he usually would.

Everything was gonna be similar to every other night; he’d organise each act into their dressing rooms, let them know when it was their time to go on, and make sure they took all their things with them. 

Vinnie had to do a double take on the list. Was it just his shitty eyesight or did he see Balthazar Cavendish written on the list again?

He squeezed his eyes shut and blinked before focusing on the paper. _It_ is _him!_

_I’m gonna have to be sneaky._

As the afternoon passed, he waited for Balth to arrive. Vinnie thought he might hear the piano down in the lobby but he didn’t hear it at all. 

It was very close to curtain before he actually arrived. He hurried through the hallways to his dressing room, practically slamming the door behind him. 

Vinnie knocked on the door lightly. “Mr Cavendish? Are you alright?”

“Yes, of course,” his voice muffled through the door. “Just running late is all.”

“Alright,” Vinnie said, sighing. “Just make sure you’re on time for your own performance, okay?”

“Of course,” Balth said with a chuckle. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

________________

Balthazar performed the same set from the night before. Vinnie was able to listen from the wings again, carefully avoiding his boss Mr Block, and making sure he actually did his job properly to avoid Gretchen too. 

By the end of the evening, Balthazar was still in his dressing room. It seemed as though he waited for Vinnie to finish his job.

Vinnie always checked each dressing room after the shows just in case the performers had left any belongings. He went to Balthazar’s last, not expecting him to still be there.

“Oh! God, you’re still here! Sorry, didn’t mean for that to sound rude. Ha-ha.”

Balth had taken off the jacket of his three piece suit and his hat; his small bag packed near the door.

He raised his eyebrows in the direction of the door, gesturing for Vinnie to close it. 

“Uh…” he leant over and pushed the door close. Balthazar took the hand that was hanging by his side, and kissed it.

Vinnie quickly retracted it, leaving Balthazar confused.

“Oh, sorry, it’s just that if I get caught hanging out with you I could get fired.”

“Ah.”

“Come on, follow me outside. I can pretend I’ve called you a cab.”

“Alright,” Balth said, picking up his things. Vinnie opened the door letting the taller man through first. 

“Just hang behind a little. I’m gonna clock out on my way out.”

“Oh, of course.” Balthazar made sure Vinnie was at least 7 yards in front of him before he started to walk behind him.

“Well, I guess the hard part’s over.” Vinnie said once they were outside. He took Balth’s hand and practically dragged him toward his car. 

“Oh, I like your car,” Balth complimented. “It’s red.”

Vinnie laughed. “Thanks. It’s just a cheap old thing to get me around. Hop in!”

“Um, where are we going?”

“My place, right? Don’t you wanna... hang... for a bit?”

Balthazar cleared his throat. “Yes, that would be lovely.”

Vinnie turned the key in the ignition once they were both seated. He drove them in silence for a bit until he spoke again.

“I’ve got some cassettes in the glove compartment if you wanna choose one,” he said, glancing over.

“Oh!” Balth opened the compartment and took out the four loose cassettes. “This will do nicely.” He pushed it into the slot in the stereo, and it began to play.

“Oh, Queen, nice! Just like the one you play, huh?”

“Yes, it is.” Balth hummed along to Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy. He tapped his knees with his fingertips, mimicking his own piano playing. 

“Now that I think about it, it’s got a bit of a gay vibe, don’t you think?”

Balthazar smirked. “That’s precisely why I play it. I know normal people will listen to it and think, 'oh, Freddie Mercury is just talking about a woman, surely'. It doesn’t sound that way.” 

“Yeah, the homosexuals just have a different mindset,” Vinnie laughed. 

Of course, both of them were indeed gay.

________________

Vinnie pulled up on the street outside his apartment, parking well for the first time in his life. He unlocked the door, remembering that he hadn’t really tidied up the place because he certainly wasn’t expecting company. 

“Okay, uh, just let me tidy up a little first,” Vinnie chuckled nervously, darting around his apartment picking up shirts and socks and cutlery he’d left lying around. He wasn’t trying to be a pig in his living space but the late night shows didn’t necessarily help. “Take your shoes off, too.”

After removing his shoes, Balthazar stood and looked around a little before following Vinnie to his kitchen. “I like your place. It’s much nicer than my own,” he said. His was terrible compared to this place. The salary of a musician wasn’t good at all, and it didn’t seem to be inclining. 

“Oh, it’s just a dingy little flat. I’m saving up for a proper house.”

“I like the cosiness of it here.”

Vinnie chuckled. “You wanna buy this place off me when I leave?”

Balth looked away but he wasn’t really joking. “Potentially.”

Vinnie strode over to Balth once he’d finished tidying, immediately taking his hands in his own. “I like you a lot,” he said, grinning up at the tall man.

“I’m glad, because I like you too.” Balth pulled up Vinnie’s hands to kiss his knuckles. Vinnie went red underneath his glasses, letting Balth kiss the top of his hands a few times.

“Right, enough of that,” Vinnie said rather quickly.

_It’s over already?_

Vinnie grabbed Balth’s wrist and pulled him toward his bedroom. He grinned at Balth as he opened the door and shut it behind the two, pulling Balth down into a passionate kiss. 

Vinnie tugged Balth’s jacket off, along with his tie. He then took off his own suit jacket and unpinned his clip-on bowtie. Their mouths met a second time, Vinnie running his fat fingers through Balth’s ginger hair. Balthazar cupped Vinnie’s face, feeling some of his curls at his fingertips.

They began kissing more and more fiercely. Vinnie moved down Balth’s neck, hearing a quiet moan from the man as he did. Balth took some of Vinnie’s curls in his hand to ground himself from the heavenly experience. 

“Dakota-“ Balth squeaked just before Vinnie pulled him into another kiss. It was dark, and quiet, and all that could be heard was the sounds of their kissing and the movements of their clothes. They sat down on Vinnie's bed, Balth catching a glimpse of the bedsheets he hadn't noticed before. The leopard print seemed odd at first, but he then settled on the opinion of _charming._ Vinnie was quite the charming man, after all.

The kiss was fiery, with some millisecond-long breaks between to catch their breaths. Neither man had felt as good as he did now.

Vinnie very slowly unbuttoned Balth's shirt, took it off and felt his soft skin. He was gorgeous, and Vinnie began to notice things he hadn't before. The man was covered in freckles, and had incredibly long and fluttery eyelashes.

Vinnie separated from Balthazar, looking into his eyes. "You're so gorgeous," he said, placing his hand along Balth's cheek and softly stroking him with his thumb.

"You are too," Balthazar said, hands in his curls. "You are so handsome."

"Me? Nah," Vinnie said, burying his head in the taller man's neck, giving him soft kisses along his jawline. "I think I love you."

Balth pulled him up for a kiss, and gazed into his eyes. "I think I love you too."

________________ 

"Alright, Block can't know about this until it happens, alright? You _cannot_ tell him at all. Right?"

"Of course, Mr Dakota," said the emcee. 'I'll write it in now."

Vinnie had planned a little something special for tonight's performance. 

"I'll see you backstage in a little while, then?" Balthazar asked.

"Yeah, I'll see ya," Vinnie said, quickly squeezing his hand. He smiled up at Balth as he walked off to his dressing room. 

The first few perfomances had passed, and it was finally time for Balthazar's third night performance. The audience was quiet, but not silent. They seemed pleased to be there. There was quiet murmuring all around, waiting for the next performance to begin. 

The emcee came up to the front of the stage. “I would now like to welcome Vinnie Dakota and Balthazar Cavendish to the stage! Give ‘em a warm welcome!”

Applause filled the room as they walked onto the stage. Balthazar daintily sat down at the piano and Vinnie was handed a microphone.

“I’m not gonna sing as well as Mercury, but I’ll sure as hell try,” Vinnie laughed, clearing his throat and standing up straighter.

Balth looked at him endearingly and began playing. 

“I can dim the light and play you songs full of sad things, we can do the tango just for two.” Vinnie smiled at Balth, his eyes softening behind his glasses. “I can serenade, and gently play on your heartstrings, be your Valentino just for you…”

Balth joined in as they harmonised. “Ooooh, love, ooooh, lover boy… what'ya you doin’ tonight, hey boy?”

Vinnie continued as Balth looked back at the piano. “Set my alarm, turn on my charm, that’s because I’m a good old-fashioned loverboy…”

_Ooh, let me feel your heartbeat grow faster, faster, ooooh can you feel my love heat? Come on and sit on my hot seat of love and tell me how do you feel right after all,_

“I’d like for you and I to go romancing, say the word, your wish is my command,” Balth sang, surprising both Vinnie and some of the audience members.

“Ooh, love, ooh, loverboy, whatcha doin’ tonight, hey boy? Write my letter, feel much better, use my fancy patter on the telephone…”

Vinnie sat down next to Balth on the seat.

“When I’m not with you, think of you always…” he sang. Balth continued, “I miss those long hot summer nights…”

“When I’m not with you think of me always,” Vinnie harmonised with Balth again. “Love you, love you…”

“Hey boy, where’d you get it from? Hey boy, where did you go?” Balth sang, still playing.

“I learned my passion in the good old-fashioned school of loverboys…”

Vinnie smiled widely after his high note, listening to Balthazar perform a piano solo that was originally done with a guitar. It was still gorgeous to Vinnie. Probably more so than the original. 

“Dining at the Ritz, we’ll meet at nine-“

_—onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnine-o-clock—_

“-I’ll pay the bill, you taste the wine,” he smiled at Balth again. “Driving back in style in my saloon, will do quite nicely, just take me back to yours, that will be fine.” He looked at the audience and cocked his eyebrows a couple of times as he sang “come on and get it.”

_Ooh, love, there he goes again, he’s my good old fashioned loverboy whoo, whoo, ooh, hey boy,_

“Everything’s alright, just hold on tight, that’s because I’m a good old fashioned-“

“Fashioned!”

“-loverboooooy!”

The audience loved it, and applauded with cheers and even some whistles. 

The two musicians took to the front of the stage and bowed, smiling at the audience and each other. They waved for a second before exiting stage right.

Vinnie pulled Balthazar down into a kiss as soon as they were in the wings. It was quick and small, but enough to send shocks of pleasure through both of them. 

“I enjoyed that so much. I loved performing with you,” Vinnie said, hands on his partner’s chest. 

Balthazar held Vinnie’s waist. “You were terrific. I loved it as well,” he said, smiling endearingly. 

“Wanna head home, loverboy?” Vinnie said, now with his hands clasped with Balth’s. “I’ve got leftover chocolate pudding with both our names on it.”

“Sounds delightful,” Balth said, pressing a kiss to Vinnie’s forehead. “You really are a good old-fashioned loverboy, aren’t you?”


End file.
